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Last night the cold was getting to us. What better to warm us up than a hearty vegetable soup. I’ve always liked vegetable soup but really never made it. Settling for the pre-made soups, I had no idea what a great vegetable soup tasted like before now. I found a promising recipe, garden basil pesto soup, to use as a base but did some slight recipe tweaks to give the soup a bit more depth.

It struck me a little odd that the soup had no herbs or spices in it besides the ubiquitous pepper and salt to taste. Since I had a canister full of fresh cut herbs, I went for chopped chives, rosemary, and a bay leaf. I also love garlic, so I threw in three minced cloves. We’re not especially fond of onions, so shallots were used for their mild flavor. I have to admit, this turned out a fabulous soup in combination with the original recipe. It also made enough to have six meals in the freezer for those hectic days.

I decided to throw in some mushrooms since a garden just isn’t complete without them.

Going with my “fresh is better” ideas, I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned. I don’t like the idea of processed tomatoes. I seeded the tomatoes, but left the skins.

You’ll need at least a five quart pot for this soup since it’s a fairly large volume. I am very lucky and received this Le Creuset 5qt pot for a gift. This is the first time using it and I don’t think I’ll be using my other stew pots any time soon. Highly recommended!!